Keir Starmer allies insist slew of U-turns show he is 'pragmatic'

Keir Starmer's allies today desperately defended his slew of U-turns as evidence he is 'pragmatic'.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted the country's circumstances had 'changed significantly' since the leader made pledges such as to abolish tuition fees.

The latest volte face on fees has come under fire from Labour's left, with the Tories ridiculing Sir Keir as 'Sir Flip Flop'.

But during a round of interviews this morning on the eve of crunch local elections, Ms Reeves blamed the Government's handling of the economy for the policy shifts.

'The Tories have crashed the economy, they have brought public services to their knees and that does mean that we need to look again at what we can afford and what our priorities will be if we have the privilege to form the next government,' she told ITV's Good Morning Britain.